Japanese Shopping Mall Fall: High School Girl and Woman in 30s Collide... Both Dead

High School Girl Falls from Rooftop of Japanese Shopping Mall
Falls onto Woman in Her 30s Passing by
Both Die... Suspected Suicide Attempt

On the 31st of last month, a high school girl jumped from a shopping mall near Yokohama Station in Japan, colliding with a female office worker walking on the street, resulting in the deaths of both individuals.
[Photo by NHK]

In a shopping mall in Yokohama, Japan, a high school girl fell and struck a woman in her 30s who was walking below, resulting in the deaths of both individuals.

According to local media including the Yomiuri Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun on the 1st (local time), at around 5:55 PM on the 31st of last month, a 17-year-old third-year high school student from Chiba Prefecture, identified as Ms. A, fell from the rooftop garden on the 12th floor of a shopping mall near the west exit of JR Yokohama Station in Nishi Ward, Yokohama City, and struck a 32-year-old working woman, Ms. B, who was walking below. Both were immediately transported to the hospital, but Ms. A died about an hour after the accident, and Ms. B died four hours later.

At the time of the accident, a report was received stating, "Two women near Yokohama Station are lying down bleeding." A witness passing by the scene said, "Two young women were lying down," adding, "One woman was receiving CPR. The other was covered in blood."

Ms. A had visited Yokohama that day with three friends. It is known that the rooftop railing from which Ms. A fell was also equipped with a glass fence approximately 2.5 meters high. The rooftop garden is currently temporarily closed.

The reason for the high school girl's jump has not yet been clearly determined. The police are focusing on the possibility that the girl took an extreme action on her own and are investigating the exact cause of the accident.

This Yokohama jumping incident is similar to a case in 2020 where a 17-year-old male student jumped from the rooftop of a shopping center in a busy area of Osaka, dying along with a 19-year-old female student below. At that time, it was confirmed that the male student accessed the rooftop via an employee passage before jumping. Although he was posthumously charged with murder, the charges were soon dropped.